Category: Bay Area Housing Market

You think you only need a Realtor when you go to buy and sell Real Estate. Turns out – we’re pretty handy resources too! The Caton Team likes to set up our clients with a monthly search so they know – at any given time – about how much their home is worth. Now, one would think this information is only relevant when it’s time to sell – turns out – knowing your homes value comes in handy… here’s how!

(If you’d like us to setup a custom search for your home – please let us know!)

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO REFINANCE?

Much like selling, knowing your home’s value can guide you to the right mortgage refinance opportunity. Perhaps you need a lower, more manageable payment – I.E. a lower interest rate – knowing the value of your home will help you determine how much you can borrow. If you need some guidance on where to turn – please let The Caton Team know and we can point you in the right direction.

THINKING OF HOME IMPROVEMENTS

Understanding the value of your home will help determine if a home improvement is worth it. Considering a sale? If your home is already worth top dollar for your area – perhaps an improvement isn’t the best bang for your buck. On the flip side – if you know your home is a tad more dated than the neighborhood, and you know the oohs and aahs the Jone’s just got for their fixed up bath – then perhaps it is time to consider a home improvement that will maximize your return on investment. Curious where to invest your money? The Caton Team is happy to help! We’re in the trenches with our buyers and know what they are looking for. We are very cost conscious with our sellers – so we will steer you in the right direction.

KNOW YOUR PROPERTY TAX

The property tax you pay is assessed on the value of your home. If the market is healthy or you’ve updated your home that will increase the value of you home and adjust your property tax upwards. Have you noticed a change in your taxable value and curious if it is correct? Let the Caton Team know and we’d be happy to provide you with an accurate, current value of your home.

NEED A LINE OF CREDIT

If you’re thinking you need to borrow against your home for a Line of Credit – you’ll need to know and understand the value of your home. Most banks require up to 25% equity in your home in order to qualify for a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). When home values are on the rise and the real estate market is strong – that can create a great opportunity for a homeowner to capture and use some of their equity. Perhaps pay off more expensive loans or pay for college tuition.

HOME OWNERS INSURANCE

Did you know that your Home Owners Insurance is based on the appraised value? If your home values go up you may be under-insured! For instance, let’s say you bought a home with an unfinished basement and converted it into a high-end Man Cave with all the electronic bells and whistles. Clearly you just added value to your home, added equity – so you’ll want to make sure your insurance covers these new renovations and reflects the new value of your home. Are you curious if your renovations added value – let The Caton Team know and we’ll help!

The Caton Team is comprised of Susan and Sabrina Caton – a mother/daughter in law team. We are full time, local Realtors with over 25 years of combined Real Estate experience. How can The Caton Team help you?

You may need to do less convincing to get home shoppers to make their move in the housing market. Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index rose 2.2 percentage points in April, with five of six components rising that measure confidence in buying, employment, household incomes, financing, and more.

The share of Americans who say now is a good time to buy rose 5 percentage points in April. However, the net share of those saying now is a good time to sell fell 5 percentage points, the index showed.

IRAs (individual retirement accounts) are already increasing in value, and job creation efforts will take hold as unemployment has already reached new lows. Both of these trends will give consumers a boost in the market.

This could be short-lived as robots steal millions of service jobs, middle managers included. This trend will make overseas offshoring seem like a pimple on our butt.

Enjoy the sunlight, but stash away some of your profits for dark clouds later.

One year from now, Opendoor will be the second-largest broker in the U.S., second only to NRT.

By unit count — and, most importantly, by revenue — the exchange platform will give a segment of the selling market the certainty they generally cannot get when unloading their homes the traditional way.

Remember, Opendoor still works with buyers agents, so when the company comes to your market, consider how to make it work for you.

The 10-year old online plodder will take its story to Wall Street and file to go public.

Redfin will use its new funds to capture more share in its current markets and continue to innovate and make gains on the recruiting front and with its technology.

Lots to learn from Redfin — copying their best features is one strategy to compete with them.

Equity-sharing mortgages will spread

Wall Street will provide the funds, and homebuyers in pricey markets with a sparse down payment will be the beneficiaries, as equity sharing becomes widespread because of support by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the big lenders.

Learn everything you can about this new loan so you can help your buyers who are scrambling to save their down payment.

Luxury housing market recovers, but tastes change

With a U.S. President who earned his billions in luxury real estate, the high-end market will have a revival as rich people who have been hoarding their cash and hiding out from the redistributionists will tiptoe back into the market.

But tastes will change. Walkable neighborhoods will become the Cartier wrist bands of real estate, guard dogs in tow.

Docusign IPO bigger than Zillow

The paperless cruasader, San Francisco-based Docusign will go public, shining light on the real estate efficiency race. The company’s finances will look sterling and get the attention of Wall Street technology skeptics. The IPO could be huge.

Mars will be subdivided

A first step in creating a new civilized world on Mars will be a plan to subdivide the far-off planet. It could pay for space exploration. That is how we pay for infrastructure on planet earth.

Some of the smartest minds in the real estate industry will get involved. But don’t be bamboozled into investing in Mars property — yet.

The present and future will merge

Bots on your phone and on everything you own or drive will help you manage many functions of your life and will be automatically updated, taking you into the future every second, whether you like it or not.

Installation artist Douglas Coupland calls this phenomenon “accelerated acceleration.” Your challenge will no longer be keeping up with technology, because it has already kidnapped a big part of your life.

I love autumn. The air is crisp – we’ve got this rain thing happening from time to time. It is magical here in the Silicon Valley. But what I truly appreciate about the end of the year is the opportunity in Real Estate. Time and time again I see the market cool after summer ends and school starts. After all, we are habitual creatures.

As some of the leaves turn colors, some of the buyers change their focus. Who can blame them – after a competitive Spring and Summer – those looking to buy can feel a little beat up and bent out of shape. However, if you can muster the courage to read another set of 500 disclosures in 36 hours – then you might just be open to an opportunity.

The Fall season is a unique situation. Excess inventory from the Spring and Summer is still available and clearly with a need to sell. Perhaps it was overlooked, over priced, under priced – who knows. If it is for sale – it needs to sell. Currently, we’ve got the most inventory we’ve had in the past two years. But don’t be fooled – a normal SF Bay Area Peninsula Real Estate market has 3 months of inventory – compared to the whopping 1.5 months of inventory today. What does that mean? We still have demand and the well priced homes are moving relatively quickly. That is what has fueled our local Real Estate market for the past couple of years. High Demand and Low Inventory. Add amazingly, historically low interest rates and boom – local Real Estate health.

To make a long story short (and if you’ve like the long story – please contact me) the Fall is a great time to buy Real Estate. Even with the fear of a “bubble” – it is still an opportunity. Real Estate is a long-term investment. And like all investments, it will fluctuate with the market demand. It would be realistic to say appreciation will slow down. It cannot keep this breakneck speed forever. A normal market does not appreciate double digits month over month into perpetuity! So price correction is part of the conversation.

Truly, each persons journey with Real Estate is unique. And it is part of your investment and life plan. The Caton Team is happy to sit down with you and explore your opportunities. Contact us anytime. Info@TheCatonTeam.com / 650.799.4333

Although now may be a good time to buy a house, it is not as good a time as it was four years ago, Buffett stated at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Fortune reported that Buffett thinks the chances of housing prices collapsing are very low.

Fortune reported:

“I don’t see a nationwide bubble in real estate right now at all,” said Buffett.

Buffett made remarks at the annual meeting Berkshire Hathaway, which took place on Saturday in Omaha. “In Omaha and other parts of the country people are not paying bubble prices for real estate,” says Buffett.

The report showed a national 0.4 percent month-over-month increase from January to February, and a 5.6 percent annual jump between February 2015 and February 2016. January’s HPI report showed a 0.5 percent increase, which was revised downward to reflect a 0.4 percent increase.

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index (HPI) found that home prices rose for the 43rd consecutive month in November 2015. According to the HPI report, home prices rose 5.3 percent year-over-year in November, slightly up from the 5.1 percent increase recorded in October 2015.

“Home prices extended their gains, supported by continued low mortgage rates, tight supplies and an improving labor market,” said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Sales of existing homes were up 6.5 percent in 2015 vs. 2014, and the number of homes on the market averaged about a 4.8 months’ supply during the year; both numbers suggest a seller’s market.”

The topic of bubbles forming in the housing market is something that has been thrown around for quite some time. As home prices soar to new heights—with no sign of decline—housing bubbles appear to be popping up in many markets and may be here to stay, according to Zillow’s Home Price Expectations Survey.

“Without 20/20 hindsight, it’s difficult to identify bubbles as they’re happening, but it is very clear that nationally we are not seeing a return of the conditions that caused the last national bubble,” said Dr. Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s Chief Economist. “Tighter lending restrictions today mean we aren’t seeing buyers get loans they realistically can’t pay back, like we did in years past. It’s significant that some experts are starting to worry about bubble conditions, but in my opinion, there’s no real danger of a severe crash like the one we all remember from the last decade.”

My two cents – talk of a housing bubble is a buzz here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Though no one has a crystal ball – and as much as I want to tell my home buyers to hold tight – prices will come down – I cannot because I don’t see that in the forecast.

Here is what we are experiencing the San Francisco Bay Area – We have had a BOOM in population due to job growth. Most are in the tech industry – but we also have a strong Bio-Tech job market. So we have a great job market – and yes I am taking into account the lay offs in Silicon Valley – but we also have very low inventory and very high demand for the past couple of years. Loans are harder to get – meaning we cannot expect a crash due to bad loans. In fact, the interest rate is still low though there is talk of raising it. And while interest rates are low – borrowed money goes a bit further. The only sign I see is the stock market. With its drops – some of the cash buyers were counting on has disappeared – for the moment. But that’s not enough to stop the housing market.

I know my selling clients are figuring out ways to sell their home now. And I see my buying clients getting discouraged with the pace of the market. But if there is only one piece of advice I can bestow to you now is this – if you can and want buy a home in the San Francisco Bay Area – do it now. Even if there is a slow down in the market, even if prices level off, historically – since the dawn of time, Real Estate has always recovered and always at a higher price than before the fall.

I don’t see a crash coming. I do see a market adjustment as buyers dictate what they are willing to pay for a home. And as money gets tight and the dream of home ownership stays strong – we will see a change. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for a crash.